Hope Restored
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: Ted and his cousin Sky visit the Once-ler after they plant the last Truffula seed. Takes place near end of the movie. :)


**This idea came to me and I just had to do it. :) **

**The Lorax (2012 movie) belongs to Universal Studios, Illumination Entertainment, and Dr. Seuss. I only own Sky. **

**This story takes place after Ted, Audrey, and Grandma plant the seed.**

* * *

**Hope Restored**

Sky was proud of her older cousin for standing up to Mr. O'Hare and planting the seed that the Once-ler had given him. She perked up and ran over to Ted, who was smiling at Audrey. "Ted!" The little six-year-old said eagerly, grabbing his hand.

He jumped and looked at her in surprise, smiling as she looked up at him happily. "We did it, kiddo," he said, ruffling her hair affectionately.

She giggled before seeing the part of the wall that was open and showing what had happened to the trees before and it reminded her of the Once-ler. "Ted! We have to tell him!" She said, pointing to beyond the damaged wasteland. "We have to tell him! Come on! Come on!"

The twelve-year-old boy laughed as his younger cousin tugged his arm eagerly and he smiled, also wanting to tell Once-ler the good news. "Audrey? How about we hang out later?" He asked her with a smile.

She smiled again. "Sure," she said before looking curious. "Where are you and Sky going?"

"To see a friend," the boy said. "The same one who gave me the seed."

With that, he scooped up Sky and headed for his bike, placing Sky's helmet on her and getting her secure before putting on his helmet and heading out, driving through the dark wasteland, which looked less scary now that they had hope there would be more trees planted there soon.

They soon made it to the Once-ler's Lerkim and the first thing they noticed was that the boards were gone from the high window. "Once-ler?" Ted called out.

"Mr. Once-ler?" Sky called out.

A long mechanical arm stretched down to them, a metal bullhorn at the end. "Come on up," came the Once-ler's voice. "The door's unlocked."

Ted felt nervous and looked at the door, to which a chuckle reached them. "The booby trap's off," the Once-ler said. "Now come on up, or I'll send the claw after you."

Hearing the playful note in the old man's voice, Sky giggled and grabbed Ted's hand. "Come on," she said, tugging him to the door and turning the knob. It opened like a normal door and they entered, closing the door behind them before seeing the inside of the Lerkim for the first time. Granted, they had been in the upstairs room before, but had never seen the inside of the Lerkim like they were now.

"Wow," Ted said, seeing that the place looked cozy, even if it was a bit dark.

"Well, where are you kids?" Once-ler's voice reached them. "Upstairs."

The twelve-year-old boy chuckled. "Come on," he said, picking up Sky. "We better get up there before he gets cranky."

"I heard that," Once-ler said right before the claw grabbed the back of Ted's shirt, making him yelp and hold onto Sky, who clung to him in surprise at being lifted up high, though she giggled.

"He's gonna get you, Ted!" She singsonged, still giggling.

"Oh, hush," he said playfully, tickling her side to make her laugh as the claw brought them up the stairs to the room where Once-ler was. The old man smirked at seeing them and he saw Sky reach for him. Chuckling, he accepted her from the boy and smiled fondly as she hugged him and he returned the hug before setting her down in a chair and turning to Ted. "So I'm cranky, hmm?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"No! No, you're not," the boy said quickly.

"Too late, boy."

Green fingers quickly moved to his sides and wiggled into the boy's tickle spot, making him burst into laughter and squirm, but the claw had him in a good grip as the Once-ler tickled him. Sky giggled as she watched before getting a sneaky idea. "Mr. Once-ler, Ted's knees are ticklish," she said.

"SKY! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ted laughed, not believing that his cousin had just told the old man one of his other tickle spots.

"You don't say?" Once-ler said with a chuckle before gently squeezing Ted's knees, making the boy yelp and laugh, kicking his legs, but the hands still continued gently squeezing his ticklish knees.

"Tickle, tickle, tickle!" The old man said playfully.

"DOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHONT DOHOHOHOHOHO THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!" Ted pleaded, but his laughter made it hard for him to be taken seriously.

"Do you take back your little remark about me being cranky?" Once-ler asked, giving the boy a breather.

Ted nodded and felt the claw let him go, to which the old man caught him and carried him over to the chair where Sky was. The little girl scooted over to make room for her cousin as Once-ler set Ted down and turned to Sky, playfully tickling her sides and making her giggle before he sat down on the ottoman in front of them.

"Well, what brings you two to see an old man?" He asked, a playful note in his voice.

"We kept that stinky Mr. O'Hare from getting the seed and Ted planted it in the middle of town with Audrey's and Grandma's help!" Sky said happily. "And the whole town was with them! When they saw what outside really looked like, they turned against that smelly man!"

Ted chuckled at Sky's version of the story, though it was true. Sky had told off Mr. O'Hare and gotten Grandma, who had sensed Ted had gotten a seed and had gotten it before Mr. O'Hare went to search Ted's room. Sky wasn't with him, Audrey, and Grandma on the wild chase to get the seed to the center of town, but she was waiting for them there, cheering them on and standing with them when O'Hare had tried to turn the town against them.

Once-ler smiled. "I heard them all singing," he said as tears welled up in his eyes and he pulled both children into a hug. "Thank you, Ted. And thank you, Sky."

The six-year-old girl smiled and snuggled into the hug, giggling as Once-ler's mustache tickled her neck. Ted smiled too and returned the hug, happy to have helped out his friend. He had originally wanted a tree to impress Audrey, but when he had seen how Once-ler had regretted his actions, Ted wanted to help his friend as well as impress Audrey. And it all worked out that not only had the boy impressed Audrey with his determination and wanting to bring back something precious to the world, but also helped the Once-ler gain redemption and hope.

Sky looked up at Once-ler. "We'll make sure that tree grows," she said. "I want the Lorax to come back."

Once-ler looked at her and smiled. "I want that too," he said.

"And he will," Ted said. "We'll replant the forest so that not only the Lorax can return, but so can the animals."

Sky cocked her head to the side, making the Once-ler chuckle. "The Bar-Ba-Loots, the Swomee-Swans, and the Humming Fish," he said to clarify. "It'll be good if they can return."

* * *

_Five months later..._

Ted and Sky headed from town to go see Once-ler, smiling as they saw all the new Truffula trees sprouting up. "It's like a rainbow carpet," the six-year-old girl said.

The twelve-year-old boy had to agree with his cousin and looked up, seeing a blue sky. "Wow," he said. "Look at that sky."

She turned to him and looked up to see the sky was blue. "It's so pretty," she said, giggling.

They arrived at the Lerkim and Sky gasped as she saw something. "Ted, what's that?" She asked, pointing up to a orange-yellow bird that was resting on one of the roofs of the Lerkim.

The boy paused and he looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure," he admitted before seeing Once-ler coming around the house and beside him was a small figure with orange fur. Sky noticed too and she and her cousin stood still as Once-ler saw them and smiled, going over to them with the orange figure following him.

"Ah, here they are," the old man said, gently ruffling Ted's hair and very gently pinching the left side of Sky's face, making her giggle as Ted smoothed his hair back down with a chuckle.

The small figure stepped forward. "So you two are Ted and Sky, hmm?" He asked.

"Yes," Sky said before her eyes widened. "Are you the Lorax?"

He nodded. "I am, yes," he said before grunting in surprise as the child tackled him in a hug, making them both fall down.

"You're back!" The little girl said excitedly.

Once-ler and Ted laughed as the Lorax looked a bit surprised, but hugged the little girl back, chuckling. Sky let him go, but then took his hand and gently dragged him over to Ted, who smiled and kneeled down.

"Sorry, Sky gets excited easily," he said.

The Lorax chuckled. "It's fine," he said before smiling. "So you two helped Beanpole, huh?"

"Hey!" Sky said, frowning. "That's not very nice."

Once-ler chuckled. "It's alright, Sky," he said, ruffling her hair playfully. "The Lorax calls me that in a friendly way."

"Just like you called him Mustache?" Ted asked, trying not to laugh.

"And only he can call me that," Lorax said, poking Ted's side and poking Sky's side too, making the boy chuckle and the little girl giggle.

Once-ler glanced up to see the Swomee-Swan sitting on the roof and he chuckled, especially when the bird came down to him and smiled at him. Ted smiled at that. "Is that a Swomee-Swan?" He asked curiously.

"Yes," Once-ler said, gently petting the swan's head. "They are wonderful creatures, as are the Bar-Ba-Loots and the Humming Fish."

"They'll be coming soon," Lorax said with a smile. "I saw them when I was arriving here."

Sky cheered happily and Ted glanced around with a smile. "Man, I can't wait to show Audrey this place," he said.

"The girl you wanted to impress?" Once-ler asked teasingly.

"Yeah," the boy admitted, looking a bit sheepish. "And she's a really awesome girl."

Sky glomped her cousin. "I like Audrey. She's nice," the six-year-old said happily. "And she puts that funny smile on your face, Ted."

"What funny smile?" He asked, tickling her sides, making her giggle.

Once-ler chuckled in amusement as he looked around at the small trees that were growing so well. He looked up at the sky and the sun, feeling happy that thanks to two kids, hope for the Truffula trees and the forest was being restored.

And he swore that no one would harm the Truffula trees or the animals that depended on them ever again.

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**I just had to and I'm not sorry at all. I love Once-ler! :) **

**Please leave a review, but no flames! **

**GoldGuardian2418 **


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